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With no other choice, I climb from the cage. The leader steps into the light, blocking my view of my son and my woman, the onetime couple, but not anymore. I don’t care how strange it is. I don’t care if we’re not thetypicalcouple. When I get out of here, I’m marrying her and being the best dad to Ryan I possibly can be. Those things aren’t mutually exclusive.
“The choice is simple,” the leader says, shrugging off his denim jacket as if to display the colorful tattoos crawling over his shoulder and neck. “Kill Ryan, and you get to use one hand. Kill them both, and you get to use two. Otherwise, we’ll tie both behind your back. Important people are watching this via a video feed. Either way, they’re going to get a show. So, which will it be?”
I spit on the dirty floor, stepping away from the cage. “You’re not hurting either one of them,” I growl. “Tie my hands behind my goddamn back.”
The man laughs, shaking his head like I’m a fool who doesn’t know any better. “This isn’t some pay-per-view production, my friend. It won’t be some one-on-one waste of time. This is going to be arealfight.”
“My answer’s the same,” I growl. “Let’s get on with it.”
There’s nothing to stop them all from killing us right here. Far too late, I realize this was a mistake, but what other choice was there? Tell the cops and risk the kidnappers finding out and killing Ryan? Now Molly is at risk, too.
Fuck.
“You heard the man,” the leader said. “Somebody cuff him. Oh, and Duke, if you try anything now…” He mimes shooting a gun. “Bang, bang. You know what I’m talking about.”
Of course, I do. The prick isn’t exactly being subtle.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
Molly
I stand shoulder to shoulder with Ryan, relieved that the gunmen have stopped pushing their weapons against our heads. I can feel them standing just behind us, hearing their breath. I can hear Ryan’s, too, coming as quick and terrified as mine as we stare into the cage.
Duke lets two masked men walk into the cage, turning and offering his hands so they can cuff him. As the men leave, he stares over at us. They’ve turned off the lights, so I don’t think he can see us. I can see the determination on his face, though.
“Dad,” Ryan whispers.
“It’s going to be okay,” I say, though I’m not sure if I believe it. I don’t even know where Rachael is. Did the men kill her after they took me?
“Molly, I’m sorry. I have to say this. I’m so, so—”
“Shut the fuck up,” a man grunts from behind us.
“Well?” Duke roars, pacing up and down the cage with his hands tied behind his back. “What now, you fucking cowards?”
He’s not letting his fear show because that’s the sort of man he is. It’s who he was in the cage during his fighting days and who he is now. His muscles surge even more than I’ve ever seen them, like he’s getting ready to explode out of his body. I wonder if he could break those cuffs.
“Now,” the leader says, echoing across the darkness. “We make a deal. It’s a very generous one, in my view. If you’d like your son and your little lady to leave here in one piece, you’ll have to defeat ten of my men in groups of two, and I’ll warn you, some of them are very dirty fighters. If you’re okay with my guests losing a few fingers as part of a reasonable punishment, you only have to face five men.”
“Dad, pick five!” Ryan yells. “Five—ah, ah.”
Ryan grunts, falling to the floor. I’m assuming one of the men hit him. I want to yell something, too, words of support, but there’s nothing I can say. I’ve never felt so freaking useless. I can feel the man close behind me, hear him wheezing, smell his sweat. It’s like he’s getting ready to hit me.
“Well?” the leader snaps.
“Ten,” Duke says without hesitation, his voice cold now. Even his muscles have stopped bulging. He makes a conscious effort to breathe slowly as if conserving his energy.
My mind spins over and over as I try to figure out how to help. There must be something I can do. Which hand is the man holding his gun in? It’s impossible for me to tell. They haven’t tied us up. Maybe they think we’re not a threat. I’m not even sure how many men are out here. I remember what Duke said to Ethan, Tim, and Jeff. He’d find a gun and fire it. That’s all it would take, but what if they kill us all as the backup makes its way toward us?
“Very brave,” the leader says, laughing. “Okay, challengers, you’re up.”
A masked man opens the door at the side of the cage. Duke backs all the way to the other side, standing in a fighting stance even with his hands behind his back. Two men enter, tall, lean, shirtless, and covered in tattoos. When they raise their fists, I’m sure I can see blood and scabs all over them. They’re clearly used to fighting.
“Ding, ding,” the leader yells, laughing.
The two men walk across the cage, spreading out so they corner Duke against the wall. They’re going to hurt the future father of my children and my future husband. So soon after learning that he feels the same, they will end it all.
I swallow, wondering if I have what it takes. Turn, leap at the man, and use surprise and the darkness to my advantage. I don’t know if I have that in me, but the alternative is to let ten men beat the hell out of my man and let themkillhim. The world is a grotesquely unfair place sometimes. We’ve just learned how much we mean to each other, and now it will all be taken away.
